Remember to stick to the subject and issues raised by the post, not people that commented on it

April 29, 2007 5:34 PM

This US politics thread gets pretty painful to read. My complaint isn't that original, but please, please, resist the urge to make it about other members of this site.
posted by anthill to etiquette/policy at 5:34 PM (58 comments total)

wow, that thread had gone downhill since last time I saw it. I dropped a pointer to this thread in there, and removed the more "aaahhh fuuuccckkk yoouu!" of the comments you linked to.
posted by jessamyn at 5:43 PM on April 29, 2007

Thanks Jessamyn, wow that was quick.

Is it bad to wish that the entertainment value of flameout posts could be preserved for the entertainment of the Metatalk community?
posted by anthill at 5:49 PM on April 29, 2007

I really dislike pyramid termite's debating style. He keeps coming back with more and more random snippets responded to with one-liners. Talk about banal attrition... powered by all the ferocity of unquitting ankle-snipping.

Not that I expect him to change it or think this complaint is at all actionable, but I mean, now that we're in meta I get to bitch randomly right?
posted by Firas at 5:50 PM on April 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

A politics thread dragged in MeTa? Hot damn!
posted by jmd82 at 5:54 PM on April 29, 2007

fine ... he shouldn't have called me a whiny bitch and i shouldn't have given him hell for it ... fair enough
posted by pyramid termite at 6:09 PM on April 29, 2007

I can't apologize for pyramid termite but for my part, especially given my earlier comment in the thread, it was stupid of me to continue entertaining his responses and if I derailed the
thread I'm sorry. I don't plan on responding to him again.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:22 PM on April 29, 2007

You all suck. We almost had a day without a metatalk post, but nooooo.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:25 PM on April 29, 2007

We had 24+ hours without a MeTa post that ended yesterday actually. It was nice.
posted by jessamyn at 6:27 PM on April 29, 2007

Is metatalk one of those things you need a sign for?
posted by anthill at 6:30 PM on April 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Let's work together to set a new record!
posted by anthill at 6:30 PM on April 29, 2007

It was nice.

Nice like when I didn't get my connection and spent the day shivering in a dark, vomitous corner and cursing God. Oh, and as long as the mop's out, there's apparently some Libertarian assholes loose in the Road to Riches thread.
posted by carsonb at 6:33 PM on April 29, 2007

Because governments and human beings do things for reasons other than profit, you Libertarian asshole.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:20 PM on April 29 [+]
[!]

Get ready for some more action!
posted by Falconetti at 6:36 PM on April 29, 2007

Whoa, weird timing. Great minds callout alike carsonb.
posted by Falconetti at 6:37 PM on April 29, 2007

*sheepish* I flagged it too, but just couldn't keep my trap shut.
posted by carsonb at 6:40 PM on April 29, 2007

..removed the more "aaahhh fuuuccckkk yoouu!" of the comments...

They hate us for our freedoms.
posted by DU at 7:00 PM on April 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

"This US politics thread gets pretty painful to read."

Every political thread is painful to read. But that's okay, because since this isn't a news site, they're pretty few and far between.
posted by Eideteker at 7:07 PM on April 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm glad I missed that one.
posted by jonmc at 7:18 PM on April 29, 2007

We had 24+ hours without a MeTa post that ended yesterday actually. It was nice.

Yeah, but that only counts in the timezones that missed a full date on the MeTa front page. The rulebook is very clear on that. A MeTa-free day has to extend across all time zones to be official.

*stomps on anthill, shakes fist*
posted by mediareport at 7:25 PM on April 29, 2007

"But that's okay, because since this isn't a news site, they're pretty few and far between."

Oh, you scamp...

Man, thank God finals made me take a week off and realize that I wasn't doing anyone any favors by being a dick on the internet to procrastinate writing papers.
posted by klangklangston at 7:33 PM on April 29, 2007

*being beaten by mediareport*

Do we have MeFi whistleblower protection laws?
posted by anthill at 7:41 PM on April 29, 2007

MetaTalk: I flagged it, but just couldn't keep my trap shut.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:43 PM on April 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Well, it could be worse
posted by anthill at 7:43 PM on April 29, 2007

posted by Pope Guilty at 9:20 PM

If I'm recalling aright, I've actually noticed this newly-minted MeFite being unnecessarily abusive and unpleasant in several threads already.

I'm kind of hoping he or she will go away soon.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:43 PM on April 29, 2007

I'm kind of hoping he or she will go away soon.

Or shape up and play nice. That's an option too.
posted by carsonb at 7:51 PM on April 29, 2007

What stav said.
Someone's got a bad case of Tryingtomakeanameforhimselfitis.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:54 PM on April 29, 2007

Or shape up and play nice. That's an option too.

Aye, that happens. Not often, but it does.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:54 PM on April 29, 2007

Come now, carsonb, let's be realistic.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:54 PM on April 29, 2007

74 more minutes. We were so close.
posted by ztdavis at 7:54 PM on April 29, 2007

An old management saying: "you get what you measure". If the goal is MeTa free days, you gotta have a sign... :)
posted by anthill at 8:09 PM on April 29, 2007

Wait until my thread on government tax credits on fuel expenses and the first McDonald's opening on the national mall.
posted by geoff. at 8:15 PM on April 29, 2007

Yeah, but that only counts in the timezones that missed a full date on the MeTa front page. The rulebook is very clear on that. A MeTa-free day has to extend across all time zones to be official.

Well, I sort of agree with mediareport on this one, but in fact I think the only time zone that matters is mine. That's right: the moment the clock ticks over in CST, I'm gonna post a celebratory metatalk thread and screw it up for all you Pacific Coasters.

Ok, not really. But I think it would be funny.
posted by anotherpanacea at 8:15 PM on April 29, 2007

Metafilter: aaahhh fuuuccckkk yoouu
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:22 PM on April 29, 2007

When I first read this meta post, I thought that by "resist the urge to make it about other members of this site," it meant to resist dragging other uninvolved members into the fight.

like so:

user a: i feel strongly about these issues.
user b: well, user c is an asshole.
user c: wtf do i have to do with anything?!
posted by shmegegge at 8:29 PM on April 29, 2007

Well, if you're not on my linked-to contacts list, you can assume it as official notification of my opinion that you're an ass.
posted by Firas at 8:32 PM on April 29, 2007

let's be realistic.

Sorry, I got swept up in the magic of the moment.
posted by carsonb at 8:34 PM on April 29, 2007

Shmegegge— to be fair, user c does have a pretty terrible record.
posted by klangklangston at 9:03 PM on April 29, 2007

user d on the other hand is a stan-up guy.
posted by jonmc at 9:14 PM on April 29, 2007

the user down in the sibilants, though, they all suck.
posted by jonmc at 9:15 PM on April 29, 2007

yeah, user c IS an asshole!
posted by shmegegge at 9:16 PM on April 29, 2007

User E is all about the love and the sweaty hugs, but has got to lose the glowsticks and listen to some real freakin' music for a change.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:17 PM on April 29, 2007

Screw you guys.
posted by user c at 9:21 PM on April 29, 2007 [16 favorites]

I love it when people spend five bucks for a joke an d I sincerely mean that. Going the extra distance for a laugh is always worth it.
posted by Falconetti at 9:48 PM on April 29, 2007

You all suck. We almost had a day without a metatalk post, but nooooo.

It was as traversing a vast, empty desert. Let us pray we never come so close to boredom again.
posted by voltairemodern at 9:58 PM on April 29, 2007

I'm kind of hoping he or she will go away soon.

Stav, there's the rub: once the conclave is over, those ruby slippers are yours for life. (Maybe we should distract him with some AskMe questions about Escriva or obscure Latin declensions.)
posted by rob511 at 11:27 PM on April 29, 2007

We almost had a day without a metatalk post, but nooooo

A day without a MetaTalk post is like a day without sunshine. Okay, dysfunctional sunshine, but sunshine nonetheless.
posted by amyms at 11:31 PM on April 29, 2007

The content of the heated argument in that thread always brings out the worst in people. It's tragically fascinating, really. In anything political, we all too often turn on our allies with more ferocity than we attack our enemies. The obvious motivation must be a feeling of betrayal. Yet we should know that rarely is an ally actually intending to betray us. And I guess maybe we often do know this and so our sense of betrayal becomes an angry and very arrogant contempt: our ally is stupidly, ignorantly betraying us. So the two chief emotional expressions—separate, alternating, or concurrent—are hatred toward a traitor and angry contempt at a destructive moron. Both sides are feeling this and thus, because their cause is just, feel very self-righteous and that it's okay to completely unleash these feelings in vicious attack. Or at least one will initiate it and the other will respond likewise. I dissect this only because I think it's an extreme case of how people can be very irrational and very emotional and working against their cause (by collectively self-destructing) while asserting their rationality. In this type of situation, it really takes a lot of effort and a sort of courage to continually reach out and say "we're brothers and sisters, we share the same goals and enemies, I respect your opinion though I disagree with it and we further our goals only when we argue constructively".
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:40 PM on April 29, 2007

A day without a MetaTalk post is like a day without sunshine. Okay, dysfunctional sunshine, but sunshine nonetheless.

MetaTalk is my favorite part of the site. Talking about links and answering questions is OK, but I'd rather talk about talking about links and answering questions.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 1:26 AM on April 30, 2007

Answering questions and sharing topical opinions? That's like being a county judge. You're just discussing the issue and issuing a ruling. But when you can express your opinions about the progress of the opinions being expressed, their history and trends, that's like being on the circuit court of appeals. It's an entitlement to analyze the topic and to summarize others' opinions on it.

So commenting in MeTa is like a career promotion in web pundit terms. The downside is that there's no threshold to admission: Every boondock shopping mall courthouse judge is also in their own appeals district. We have a Supreme Court of three who not only have final adjudication, but the power of life and death over everybody else. And they're appointed by a dictator-for-life who, fortunately, does not banhammer people for belabored metaphors.
posted by ardgedee at 4:57 AM on April 30, 2007

Badgering the witness!
Always wanted to say that.
Sorry.
posted by Dizzy at 5:46 AM on April 30, 2007

I love it when people spend five bucks for a joke an d I sincerely mean that. Going the extra distance for a laugh is always worth it.

I wonder how many are cortex's creations — surely now with his new-found powers he can create joke sockpuppets galore.
posted by Aloysius Bear at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2007

Normally I would make a snarky comment here about politics ruining the site and best of the web and all that. But even I have come to realize that I am a tiresome bore.
posted by LarryC at 6:59 AM on April 30, 2007

Oh, I realize. I just think it's tit-for-tat for the equally tiresome poliFilter threads.
posted by Eideteker at 7:19 AM on April 30, 2007

Moechatur mentula? Certe.
posted by breezeway at 7:28 AM on April 30, 2007

We have a Supreme Court of three who not only have final adjudication, but the power of life and death over everybody else.

I love it when you talk dirty.

And they're appointed by a dictator-for-life who, fortunately, does not banhammer people for belabored metaphors.

He's been known to make exceptions, though.

I wonder how many are cortex's creations — surely now with his new-found powers he can create joke sockpuppets galore.

I don't really dabble in it. Free is a good price, but having to log out and in and rejigger my cookied preferences between multiple workstations adds a sort of unbearable psychological tax to the whole sockpuppetry thing. I think I'd be more likely to do it if it did cost five bucks—because then I'd be five bucks in already and have that to motivate me.

That's probably kind of a weird way to look at it.
posted by cortex at 8:37 AM on April 30, 2007

cortex that makes perfect sense.
posted by infini at 12:21 PM on April 30, 2007

Yeah cortex, that's perfectly rational behavior (eg. in some cases we see that when malaria-preventing mosquito nets are handed out for free people don't use them but when there's a token price people actually sleep under them.)
posted by Firas at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2007

Fuckn anthill...
posted by The Deej at 7:22 PM on April 30, 2007

How lame is it that we're deja vu'ing the exact same thread here. I swear to god it's the exact same topic.
posted by Firas at 9:06 PM on May 1, 2007